A Treatise of Human Nature PDF
Preview A Treatise of Human Nature
A Treatise of Human Nature byDavidHume StyledbyLimpidSoft Contents ADVERTISEMENT 1 INTRODUCTION 3 BOOKI 18 PART I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 i PART II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 PART III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 PART IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489 BOOKII 725 PART I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 726 PART II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 863 PART III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1040 BOOKIII 1181 PART I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1182 PART II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1238 PART III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1493 APPENDIX 1612 ii The present document was de- rivedfromtextprovidedbyProject Gutenberg(document4705)which wasmadeavailablefreeofcharge. This document is also free of charge. iii ADVERTISEMENT My design in the present work is sufficiently explained in the Intro- duction. Thereadermustonlyob- serve, that all the subjects I have there planned out to myself, are not treated of in these two vol- umes. The subjects of the Un- 1 ADVERTISEMENT derstanding and Passions make a compleat chain of reasoning by themselves; and I was willing to takeadvantageofthisnaturaldivi- sion,inordertotrythetasteofthe public.IfIhavethegoodfortuneto meet with success, I shall proceed totheexaminationofMorals,Poli- tics,andCriticism;whichwillcom- pleat this Treatise of Human Na- ture. The approbation of the pub- licIconsiderasthegreatestreward ofmylabours; butamdetermined toregarditsjudgment,whateverit be,asmybestinstruction. 2 INTRODUCTION NOTHING is more usual and more natural for those, who pretend to discover any- thingnewtotheworldinphilosophyandthe sciences, than to insinuate the praises of their ownsystems,bydecryingallthose,whichhave beenadvancedbeforethem. Andindeedwere they content with lamenting that ignorance, 3 INTRODUCTION which we still lie under in the most impor- tant questions, that can come before the tri- bunal of human reason, there are few, who have an acquaintance with the sciences, that would not readily agree with them. It is easy for one of judgment and learning, to perceive the weak foundation even of those systems, which have obtained the greatest credit, and havecarriedtheirpretensionshighesttoaccu- rateandprofoundreasoning. Principlestaken upontrust,consequenceslamelydeducedfrom them, want of coherence in the parts, and of evidence in the whole, these are every where tobemetwithinthesystemsofthemostem- inent philosophers, and seem to have drawn disgraceuponphilosophyitself. Noristhererequiredsuchprofoundknowl- edge to discover the present imperfect condi- 4 INTRODUCTION tionofthesciences,buteventherabblewithout doorsmay, judgefromthenoiseandclamour, whichtheyhear, thatallgoesnotwellwithin. Thereisnothingwhichisnotthesubjectofde- bate, and in which men of learning are not of contrary opinions. The most trivial question escapes not our controversy, and in the most momentous we are not able to give any cer- taindecision. Disputesaremultiplied,asifev- erythingwasuncertain;andthesedisputesare managedwiththegreatestwarmth,asifevery thingwascertain.Amidstallthisbustleitisnot reason,whichcarriestheprize,buteloquence; andnomanneedseverdespairofgainingpros- elytestothemostextravaganthypothesis,who hasartenoughtorepresentitinanyfavourable colours.Thevictoryisnotgainedbythemenat arms,whomanagethepikeandthesword;but by the trumpeters, drummers, and musicians 5 INTRODUCTION ofthearmy. From hence in my opinion arises that com- mon prejudice against metaphysical reason- ingsofallkinds,evenamongstthose,whopro- fessthemselvesscholars,andhaveajustvalue foreveryotherpartofliterature.Bymetaphys- ical reasonings, they do not understand those on any particular branch of science, but ev- ery kind of argument, which is any way ab- struse,andrequiressomeattentiontobecom- prehended.Wehavesooftenlostourlabourin suchresearches,thatwecommonlyrejectthem withouthesitation,andresolve,ifwemustfor everbeapreytoerrorsanddelusions,thatthey shallatleastbenaturalandentertaining. And indeednothingbutthemostdeterminedscep- ticism,alongwithagreatdegreeofindolence, canjustifythisaversiontometaphysics. Forif 6
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